Wonder Madilo and Elikem Kotoko
Two persons have been disqualified from contesting in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) national executives elections for not meeting the selection criteria.
Elikem Kotoko and Wonder Madilo, who were both contesting for the position of a National Youth Organiser, were disqualified during vetting.
DAILY GUIDE understands that the disqualification of the two is in accordance with the party’s constitution which states that persons who want to contest for national executive positions must have held executive positions at the lower levels.
The two are said not to have held any of such positions, thereby barring them from occupying national executive positions in the party.
Wonder Madilo is said to have truncated his position as Treasurer of Ayawaso West Wuogon when he transferred his vote to the Ketu South prior to the 2016 general elections.
Their disqualification leaves two contestants- Brogya Genfi and George Opare Addo as the only contenders for the position.
Another contestant has reportedly withdrawn from the race.
The unnamed aspirant, according to reports, did not show up for the vetting, and later served notice that he had withdrawn from the process for personal reasons.
Appeal
Meanwhile, one of the disqualified aspirants, Wonder Madilo, has appealed against his disqualification, saying it constitutes a miscarriage of justice.
According to him, the decision by the vetting committee to disqualify him because his tenure as an executive of the branch in the Ayawaso West Wuogon was less than four years is “most ridiculous.”
He argued that the constitutional provisions of the NDC, which requires persons vying for national executive positions to have held branch executive positions did not place any limit on how long an individual ought to hold that position.
“I asked the Committee to state where in the Constitution it is stated that a mere transfer of vote in a national election results in one’s forfeiture of Membership of a branch; but they could not provide any. In fact, a member of the Committee and lawyer of repute exclaimed ‘young man, it does not have to be stated in black and white. From the above, it is obvious the ‘Ebola Clause’ of not having served for four years as an executive and the alleged vacation of post by me is alien and self-created.
“I hereby state that the Committee’s decision was flawed, was arbitrary and was a miscarriage of justice.”
He, therefore, criticized the committee for using what he described as “Ebola Clause” to arbitrarily disqualify him from the contest.
By Gibril Abdul Razak